pandoraheartsfandomcom-20200223-history
User blog:Leviathan657/Chapter II: The New World
Chapter II: The New World The man stands before me, studying me, before finally exclaiming, “I suppose that you do look sort of like a ‘Claudia’. I, myself, am Wilhelm Vessalius – next in line to inherit the entirety of the Vessalius Dukedom. Now, can you tell me if you remember anything prior to dropping out of that large black door behind you?” Wilhelm extends his hands to help me up as a warmhearted gesture. “Of course I remember!” I bark, slapping away Wilhelm’s hand. Something about his presentation makes Wilhelm seems like a sham. I don’t trust him. “Well then, why don’t you share it with me then? You know, tell me a little bit about yourself?” he suggests, smiling wholeheartedly. I just glare at Wilhelm, but in the end I decide that I have no other choice; but I’m not about to take my eyes off of him “Well, to start off with… I’m a special kind of Chain,” I explain, still wary of Wilhelm’s intent. “That much I can assume; you know not many Chains drop through the Doors to the Abyss of their own volition. Even rarer is when a Chain emerges, as you did, with its own humanistic appearance. You know, your time left on Earth is minimal, you’re going to require a Contractor.” I hadn't thought about that. In fact, I hadn't even thought about coming to Earth, I’d just let my body guide me. “Yeah? And what if I don’t form a Contract?” I’m trying to make myself appear strong, but I think my attempt backfired instead. Wilhelm looks a little confused, maybe I didn't fail to make myself look strong after all! “Your body isn't able to sustain itself without a human body to act as its vessel. Soon enough, your existence would become unstable, and you’ll be forced to return to the Abyss,” Wilhelm explains. “What exactly is it that you’re suggesting?” Even though the words come out of my mouth, I already know what Wilhelm’s answer’s going to be. “Form a Contract with me.” “No!” Once again, the words come out of my mouth before I even have time to consider Wilhelm’s offer. “Look, you have two options, either form a Contract with me, or have the world cleansed of your existence. It’s your choice,” sighs Wilhelm. “I think I’ll take my chances.” I say, standing before Wilhelm for the first time since my arrival. “Besides, if the latter option was going to play out, I think you would have already killed me; in fact, it’s more likely that you’re compelled to study me. As well, let’s be realistic here, it’s not as if someone like you could take me down anyway.” “Is that so?” Wilhelm exclaims with a smirk. Without warning, Wilhelm draws a gun from underneath his waistcoat, aims and fires directly at me. I dive-roll out of the path of the bullet, however the bullet still manages to scrape my arm. Wilhelm fires once again, numerous bullets whizzing at me at rapid speeds. I jump out of the way, sending thorn-covered vines in Wilhelm’s direction. This catches Wilhelm off-guard long enough to allow me time to escape, taking refuge behind a nearby stone pillar. When I get far enough away from Wilhelm, I look at the gash on my arm. Blood oozes from the wound as it glows and burns intensely with pain. I can’t believe what I’m seeing; with me, regular wounds heal almost immediately after they’re inflicted, but the bullet Wilhelm fired from his gun isn’t! What’s going on?! “Confused, aren't you?” Wilhelm laughs, calmly reloading his gun. “You see, this is a special gun manufactured by Pandora called a Death Scythe. I wasn’t sure whether you were a Rose or not before I came down here, so I thought that’d it’d be better to take a risk and try out my Death Scythe. Pandora had to come up with some way to deal with Roses shortly after their emergence on Earth, as your kind are more powerful than average Chains and can resist the pain of regular injuries. That wound of yours, by the way, while not fatal, will allow the poison within the bullet to spread and eventually destroy your body.” “Isn't that cheating?” I sneer. “My game, my rules. Now, shall we continue?” I hear Wilhelm ready his Death Scythe and I instinctively move, jumping behind the next pillar. I watch as the bullet pierces the pillar, slams into the wall behind it and causes the pillar to crumble. I don’t stop running, pillar after pillar falls because of me, even bringing down a part of a balcony that’s situated above me. I settle only after I hear Wilhelm stop to reload his Death Scythe once more and take the opportunity that has been presented to be me to vault up onto what’s left of the balcony above of me. Wilhelm finishes reloading and attempts to sound both threatening and taunting, “You can only hide for so long, Claudia.” “Who’s hiding?” I shout, jumping down from the balcony and extending my vines towards Wilhelm. Wilhelm’s taken by surprise and isn't able to defend himself in time, as my vines ensnare him. Wilhelm falls to the ground and I press my heel into his chest, lowering my face down to Wilhelm’s level, “Now, what was that you were saying?” “Nicely played, but it still doesn't make much of a difference.” Wilhelm jeers. “Doesn't it though? You’re trapped, and my thorns can inject your body full of a toxin that would kill you within minutes if I wanted them to. I've won, just accept your defeat.” “Defeat? Oh I wouldn't say that.” Seeing the smirk on Wilhelm’s face, I look around, noticing for the first time that I’m surrounded by numerous individuals who are all wielding Death Scythes and are ready to fire on command. “Nicely played,” I say bitterly, accepting that I've lost. “Thank you, now… how about that Contract?” Although I’m far more reluctant than I can even put into words, I accept Wilhelm’s offer, allowing him to take me to an empty room made of marble without any escorts. The room itself is big enough to fit nine or ten people, but there are no windows, or pillars, just the single door we came through when we entered and the lantern that Wilhelm brought with him. When I ask him what the room is actually for, all Wilhelm tells me is that it’s meant for multi-purpose use – intended to always remain empty to satisfy the needs of the Vessalius Dukedom, whatever those needs may be. Wilhelm stands opposite to me and pulls out a necklace from underneath his shirt. “What’s that?” I ask, nodding to the necklace. Upon further examination, I realize that there’s a pendant of some sort on the necklace that’s made out of jagged metal with a sheet of glass in its center. “This is a Carcere. It was invented shortly after the Tragedy of Sablier by one of the founder’s of Pandora so that humans can form Legal Contracts with Chains without having to worry about a time limit,” explains Wilhelm. “What’s the Tragedy of Sablier?” “It was a calamity that happened close to fifty years ago and destroyed the balance of the Abyss, but that’s in the past. Right now, just concentrate on me.” Wilhelm grips my hand looks me directly in the eye. A few minutes go by before I notice Wilhelm’s staring at me, rather confused. “What is it? Is something wrong?” I wonder. “Obviously, the first part of this ceremony involved you taking some of my blood into your body. Don’t you know that?” says Wilhelm. “Sorry, I haven’t exactly done this before,” I bark, rather annoyed. “It’s all right, just make a small incision in my hand with your thorns, and then drink the blood that emerges.” I do as Wilhelm directs, summoning my thorns, slicing through the flesh of his palm and drinking his blood. “Good. Now, I’m going to need you to do the same to your own hand.” After I make the cut, Wilhelm brings his Carcere up to the blood. I’m truly amazed by how quickly my blood disappears into the device, my blood taking shape within the pane of glass. “There we go, Claudia. Now that I've said your name, the connection between us has been reinforced.” I look down at myself, upon hearing Wilhelm say my name, and having a circular seal within the Carcere complete itself using my blood. I notice something different about me; something within me… it’s as if my soul is literally conjoined with Wilhelm’s. “So… now what do we do?” I ask. “Well, normally Chains fade into their Contractor’s body after the completion of their Contract. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like that’s going to be happening. I guess our next move should be to introduce you to the masses.” Wilhelm guides me up through the levels of what he calls the Vessalius estate, and from what I gather; the Door to the Abyss is in the lowermost basement of the mansion. We walk in silence, passing numerous valets until we finally find ourselves before two black doors with golden highlights. I can hear voices on the other side of the door, but without even the slightest consideration of courtesy, Wilhelm just pushes his way through the doors. Inside there’s a man who vaguely reminds me of Wilhelm, only older, with darker hair mixed in with his blonde hair, glasses and a short beard. “Hello father, am I interrupting?” “You know damn well you are,” the man says teasingly. Upon laying eyes on me, the man stands and walks over to Wilhelm and I. “So Wilhelm, are you going to introduce me to your lovely lady friend?” Wilhelm sighs exasperatedly, “Father, this is Claudia…” “Well Claudia, my name is Ruskin Vessalius,” Wilhelm’s father says, reaching down and clutching my hand to kiss it, “and it’s an honor to meet you.” “… and she’s the Chain I just formed a Contract with. She’s a Rose.” Ruskin freezes when Wilhelm finishes. “You formed a Contract with a Rose!? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is!?” explodes Ruskin. I garner from what he’s saying that he’s either forgotten that I’m still in the room, or he just doesn't care. “Calm yourself, she’s not a Black Rose – there’s no need for you to worry.” Ruskin deflates with relief, “I apologize for my rudeness. Let me introduce you to the others; this is Melissa Rainsworth, Robin Wingfield, Eric and Les.” I look to the four people sitting around the room behind Ruskin as they casually wave. “So, what kind of Rose are you, Princess?” Robin asks. I can’t help but notice Robin’s gleaming black hair, the red goggles sitting atop his head and energetic light brown eyes; something about those eyes is just so calming. I pause, not realizing that I’m so sidetracked, before exclaiming, “I’m a Crimson Rose.” Silence sweeps the room. It seems so silent in the mansion that I feel as if you could hear a pin drop from a mile away. Even Wilhelm was caught off guard by my announcement. It takes a while, but eventually Eric breaks the silence, “You’re a what?” “A Crimson Rose… what, haven’t you heard of Crimson Roses?” I ask, raising my hand and growing a thorny vine that ends with a crimson rose that’s fully in bloom in the center of my palm. “We've heard of you… but we had no idea…” stutters Ruskin. “Is something wrong?” “The Crimson Rose is part of a prophecy known throughout Pandora. The prophecy states that there would be a Rose with a genetic mutation who would appear in the Earth’s greatest time of need and bring both harmony and tragedy – the Crimson Rose is both our savior and our eliminator.” “So, what am I meant to do?” “No one knows, the prophecy is vague, if only that hag had elaborated.” “Hag?” “Yes, she’s the one who proclaimed the prophecy. She was old, with white eyes, needed a cane to support herself, clad in a black cloak, nothing overly out of the ordinary. She just showed up at Pandora one day, uttered the prophecy during an emergency meeting between the Four Great Dukes, and then disappeared.” “Well then, what is it that’s forced the world into its greatest time of need?” “The Black Roses, not only are they crossing more but they've also launched some kind of genocide against the White and Amber Roses.” “Don’t forget the Illegal Contractor’s they've been rounding up to help their ‘cause’.” “What? Why are they doing this?” “The Black Roses have gotten a new leader; they call him the Jet Rose. The Jet Rose is obsessed with perfection, and he views the other Roses as imperfections that need to be eliminated. Most importantly though, he’s obsessed with looking for the Premier Seed; always rooting through the trails of corpses he leaves behind.” “Why hasn't anyone stopped him yet?!” “Because, no one knows what he looks like. Everyone who faces him dies.” “When did this all start?” “Almost fifty years ago, after the Tragedy of Sablier.” “Fifty years…” “Don’t worry; you’ll adjust to the new world. It just takes some time. The important thing isn't what’s past, it’s ‘the now’, and right now you’re going to be a target of the Jet Rose. He knows the prophecy too, and will do anything in his power to stop the threat to his take over. “Isn't there something I can do?” “No, the only other option would be to kill you – and right now it’s within Pandora’s best interest to use you to hopefully draw out the Jet Rose.” “I’m going to have to be your beacon? Isn't that dangerous?” “It’s a gambit that could bring us closer to the end of the Black Roses’ terror. We need this.” Without warning, Ruskin pipes up enthusiastically, “Well, time for a change of mood. I've had enough of this sullen drama, why don’t we all go enjoy the Festival of Flowers being held in Reveille; today is the last day after all.” “What’s that?” I ask. “Don’t ask; just prepare to enjoy yourself more than you ever have,” assures Ruskin. We all file out into the hall. Eric closes the door behind us, and Ruskin stops in his tracks, “Oh, Eric, I’m going to need that report completed by tomorrow, do you think that you can manage it?” “But that’s going to take me all night! Don’t I deserve to enjoy myself at the festival too?!” yells Eric. “I’m sorry Eric, but that’s not my concern. Perhaps if you had not pushed it off for so long you would be able to come with us. Tomorrow morning, no exceptions.” Eric doesn't object to Ruskin’s orders, only glaring at him and stomping off angrily. “Jeez, I hate it when I have to be strict. Come on, the festival a waits!” Author's Note So, here's chapter 2 of my little fan-fic tie-in between Pandora Hearts and Crimson-Shell. I like to write, but as far as dialogue goes I have difficulty with it, so I expect there to be quite a bit wrong. I've been teaking this chapter for an entire month, so enjoy. Chapter III will be up shortly. Category:Blog posts